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what size ball for .75 cal Brown Bess

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So, I have heard that there are a couple of different sizes of ball for the Pedersoli .75 cal Brown Bess. I plan on pouring my own and would really like to understand more about it before I buy my mold.

Can anyone clue me in on why the different sizes

Thanks,
Larry
 
I buy pre cast .715 and .735 i use ticking patch with 715 and .735with paper shot i use 0000 mostly with cotton or paper wad
70 to 90 grains 2f pan charge or 1f change 2f pan i have yet try 1f in the pan but will try next time im out with it
 
The actual bores vary. You buy one, you also buy a $15 set of digital calipers if you don't have one already, and you measure. I've seen people report .73-.75. Mine's .745.

If you're shooting patched round ball you get something smaller and patch up. I use a .715 with pillow tickling and it thumb starts and goes down easy but it's snug enough it's not moving anywhere. Accuracy is fine.

But you could also load with cards and wads and all that like a shotgun and use shot, or buck and ball, or just a ball. So with my .745 bore I could use a ball just a little smaller than that (no patch, remember). .735 or whatever the standard size is around there.

So measure it, buy some test balls, see what works, then buy the mold.

Oh, and I run the whole thing on 3F. 70 grains is a nice load.
 
As eljay said, bore sizes on those do vary. I used .715 (too small) and .735 (too big) on mine before settling on .731 (just right :grin: ) for mine. Your milage may vary. Jeff Tanner can make any size you need after you determine what you need. I got mine from DGW years ago for $12.00. And, no, you can't have it. :wink:
 
Monkey, I used the Lyman .715 mold for the two Besses I had, a Miroku and a Pedersoli. I made my cartridges from brown shopping bag paper and got easy loading and pretty nice accuracy.

IMG_1566.jpg
 
thanks for the great advice guys,

I will check out the bore size with a vernier caliper and go from there.

I am in an S.A.R color guard and will be using the Bess for ceremonial purposes part of the time, but I also want to really get to know her and shooting her as often as I can so that I get to see just how accurate I can get as well just how fast I can safely load her (British troops during the Revolution were drilled and expected to be able to get off 4 shots per minute.)

I plan on rolling paper cartridges with a thinner paper than craft paper for my pre-made loads and then, when I feel like it switching to loading with powder measures and patching the ball, so it sounds like I may eventually need two different size molds.

Thanks especially for the tip on Jeff Tanner molds, I like the fact that he will make any size mold I want.

When I use powder measures to load with, how many grain of powder do you suggest I use if I am using say a 3f or 4f for the prime? I am asking because I noticed when looking on a couple of websites for supplies that there are pre-measured powder measures that dispense 3 grain and other that just have a valve and will dispense as much as you want.
 
for bare ball musket cartridges i like to use a ball about .020 under bore diameter. this at least works well with 2F powder. if you use 1F powder you might wanna use a slightly smaller ball due to heavier fouling.

as for prime, i just use the same powder that i used for the main charge. here is what i use for my musket (keep in mind your mileage may vary).

-schuetzen 2F for main charge and prime.
-the bore is .712 and im using a .695 ball.
-my cartridges are 95 grains.
-if not using cartridges i load the main charge at 90 grains.

with this load i can shoot a sub 3" group at 25 yards on average. if i really work at it and get a little lucky ive been able to shoot a clover leaf at 25 yards.

-matt
 
I put a fair amount of powder in the pan. I use one of those priming flasks that are supposed to drop a certain amount of powder - actually I have two, a big one and a little one - and they're not especially consistent, at least not for me. So I just kind of press the tip of it into the pan once or twice until it looks right and then scoot it around. Scientific, huh?

I use 3F for everything that requires real black powder simply because of logistics. No problem so far.
 
What works for me ffg 100 grns with a ball patched firm but still easy to load with just the rrod fffg for the prime , mounting the gun and getting the same point and sight picture is most important of all. I have just followed the advice from the guys I shoot Besses with , several of them have competed at world championships for our national team . Tried fg and it gave hang fires , after competing against a Frenchman using fffg and seeing most of the load come out of the touch hole and into the pan when loading I never entertained the thought of using fffg as a powder in my Bess :)
 
1601phill said:
after competing against a Frenchman using fffg and seeing most of the load come out of the touch hole and into the pan when loading I never entertained the thought of using fffg as a powder in my Bess :)

im with this aswell, even using 2Fg my gun is pretty much self priming if i keep the frizzen closed. 3Fg would require the frizzen to be closed or it would simply drain out.

-matt
 
I used a 3 gr. valve and 4Fg for prime most of the time. But, in a 'Bess almost anything is OK for prime.
Back when I was shooting mine, the accepted bp gospel was anything over .45 cal required only 2Fg so that is all I have used in mine. But once the planets got in alignment it became OK to use 3Fg with proper load testing.
I never used heavy charges, usually in the 50 to 70 gr. range. Heavy charges were not needed to kill squirrels or paper targets.
IMHO, loads over 70 gr. would be wasteful (bp is expensive these days) and could be uncomfortable to shoot.
Once you get set-up you will find the ole 'Bess is one of the funnest guns to shoot that was ever made.
 
My Pedersoli Bess Carbine likes a .715 ball and .010 patching over 90 to 120 grains of 2F (depends on how much fun I want to have). I don't use a priming horn because that is one more thing to mess with so I prime from the big horn.

If you are going to shoot ball in paper cartridges you may want a small sized ball. I can get 2-1/2 to 3 shots off a minute loading a .715 bare ball and powder from the horn. To get 4 shots off a minute will take a lot of practice either with cartridges or loose.

Most "battles" that I have seen do not allow putting anything down the barrel except the powder, no ramrods, no patching. Just prime and dump the powder in. Blanks make for an incredibly messy clean up.

Many Klatch
 
Monkey, I had extremely fast and reliable ignition just using a few grains of the FFg main charge from the paper cartridge. This is how it was done in the British and Continental armies at the time and it still works just fine. That big old musket flint drops a lot of sparks!

Many Klatch, point well taken regarding blank firing and barrel fouling. If I recall correctly, that one documented blow-up of an Indian-made Bess was found to have been caused by a re-enactor firing so many blanks without cleaning that the fouling formed the barrel obstruction that destroyed the gun.
 
A gunsmith friend of mine examined a Springfield repro used by a Civil War reenactor. It had been shot with blanks for several years without having been cleaned. He said that the barrel was crusted so thickly that only a pencil sized hole was left in the barrel. He cleaned the barrel and saw huge rust divots in the barrel. He warned the owner not to shoot it again and the owner of course scoffed, complained about the cost of cleaning out the barrel and went off on his way.

Many Klatch
 
I'll have to check it sometime to see if the 3F is staying 100% put or not. It's definitely not pouring out or anything. :) I haven't done anything to the hole versus how it came from Pedersoli - ignition is fine so no incentive to mess with it.

If I had lots of both I'm sure I would have started with 2F but its much easier for me to only have one powder type given the legal situation here and everything seems to run on 3F just fine so I haven't worried about it too much.
 
It was a very funny day ,the besses were booming and the 1777 was going le poof , he new what was happening but only had fffg so he was loading heavy to compensate for powder loss until fouling built up and and stopped the leakout into the open pan then instead of le poof it went KABOOM. Should have taken up the offer of ffg from the bess boys :rotf: :rotf: FYI it was a bog stock musket .
 
The size of the ball for a Bess depends on whether or not you are loading for speed as in a combat situation, or for accuracy as for hunting. For speed, since they did not stop to clean the bores, you use a very undersized ball in a paper cartridge. Many of the folks that I know who shoot "speed matches" with muskets use a .675 ball, and some even as small as .662.

For hunting and marksmanship, folks use a ball much closer to the bore diameter, so as folks have already suggested, measure the bore to be sure. Some folks use a .715 or a .690 ball patched.

Some folks have found though, that a bare ball, on top of a wad with some newsprint over the ball is actually more accurate than a patched ball in a smoothbore. It's odd, and shouldn't be that way, but some folks find that a .735 ball bare works better over a wad than patched.

Finally, some of the speed shooters use the same small ball for hunting, but they make a paper cartridge with an especially thick wall to snug up the ball when it's in the bore, so instead of 2 wraps of the paper with a .675 ball, they might use 5 wraps. Now you'd think that a paper cylinder to snug the ball up closer to the bore diameter would work like a cloth patch, but it seems to work better. Perhaps it's the fact the cloth has to form folds around the ball, and since there are no grooves the folds are not consistent. I don't know, but I know of several folks who shoot in "marksman" competitions, and none use a cloth patch around the musket ball.

Now as for powder, 80 grains is 3 drams and is plenty for hunting. Folks doing speed drills as per British drill, use 90 grains, for they pour about 10 grains into the pan, then load the musket..., not recommended as it's not safe. Better to go with 80 grains and then prime the pan after loading the main charge.

There isn't much difference between pan ignition between 2Fg and 3Fg, but 3Fg works better in blank loads, so many of the guys who use the bess for reenactment and for hunting use the same size powder for both. It's not a normally recommended granulation for such a large bore, so the recommendation for folks who shoot targets or hunt is for 2Fg for live-fire loads. Most folks prime with the same size powder, and do well.

I would not use 4Fg in a Bess. The pan is not of a "weatherproof" design, and that really fine powder may leak out as one walks in the woods, and I have always found juggling two sizes of powder over complicated, especially in a huge lock like that of a musket. 4Fg is great in a "small" rifle lock, but not a real advantage in a musket (imho)

LD
 
Dave, I really appreciate the information and help from members like you.

I guess I should explain what I want to do. I am in a Sons of the American Revolution Continental brigade Color Guard, so there are times, like Memorial day, when we have been asked to provide a Musket volley as part of a Memorial Day service.

I am interested in the different ways others load their Muskets, and want to try the different ways you mentioned to see how well they work.

Are you familiar with the tap method of loading?
 
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